Town of Fraser tells Cozens Meadow developer to remove signs

Fraser Board of Trustees gave the developer of Cozens Meadows Townhomes the choice of removing advertising signs along U.S. Highway 40 or pay thousands of dollars in fines.

That choice was given to developer Clark Lipscomb at Wednesday’s meeting. He indicated he would comply with the town’s demand.

Tuesday’s action was taken regarding the interpretation of the town’s sign code.

Lipscomb attended the meeting to appeal the town staff’s letter saying Cozens Meadows Townhomes had erected four more signs than are permitted under its Master Sign Plan.

Defending the erection of the signs, Lipscomb said they were “nice signs” that were expensive to produce and had been permanently set in concrete. He argued that the town board and he had to “figure out a way to make these signs work.”

Lipscomb suggested the possibility of a variance to the sign code, but Town Manager Jeff Durbin advised the trustees that this situation did not meet the criteria for a variance. Lipscomb then raised the idea of amending the sign code to resolve the situation.

While saying that last suggestion was a possibility, the trustees said the town’s interpretation of the code requires the four advertising signs to be removed immediately.

Some of the trustees went on to criticize Lipscomb, saying this was not the first alleged violation of the town’s sign codes by his development in recent months. In August, the town said Lipscomb’s Grand Park development had violated the sign code by putting up banners on a construction fence that he contended were not signs, but “construction barriers.”

Durbin told Lipscomb that the fine for failing to remove the four advertising signs is $1,000 per sign for a total of $4,000 each day if the violation continues.

Mayor Fran Cook advised Lipscomb to comply, saying “please take them down and store them until you go through the process.” Lipscomb replied by saying, “sounds good.”

In other business at Wednesday’s meeting, the board decided to table the proposed ordinance prohibiting the feeding of wildlife and waste disposal until the trustees had more time to review it. They plan to vote on it at their next meeting on Sept. 17.

Scott Ledin, director of the Fraser Valley Metropolitan Recreation District, invited the trustees to attend the ground-breaking ceremony for the new clubhouse that will be built at the Pole Creek Golf Course. The ceremony will be Monday, Sept. 8 at 5:30 p.m.